tragedy. trying to get away from the paparazzi. trying to learn from lessons of the past and looking forward to seeing what the future holds. reporter: will this time be different? april 29th, 2011, westminster abbey, the location of the much anticipated wedding of prince william and catherine middleton. ironically, it was this abbey where his mother, princess diana, was laid to rest in 1997. and in the years between that memorial and this celebration, the legacy of diana and the tragedy of her life were critical in prince william s journey to the altar. i think she s probably never far from his mind. i think he thinks about her every day. jules knight says he s been friends with prince william for more than a decade. did he give any inklings about the relationship that he had with his mother? i think it was evident to everybody that they were incredibly close. he s mentioned on a number of occasions that she was never far from his mind. when you re going through
reporter: all haunted by memories of a fairy tale turned tragedy. trying to get away from the paparazzi. trying to learn from lessons of the past and looking forward to seeing what the future holds. reporter: will this time be different? april 29th, 2011, westminster abbey, the location of the much anticipated wedding of prince william and catherine middleton. ironically, it was this abbey where his mother, princess diana, was laid to rest in 1997. and in the years between that memorial and this celebration, the legacy of diana and the tragedy of her life were critical in prince william s journey to the altar. i think she s probably never far from his mind. i think he thinks about her every day. jules knight says he s been friends with prince william for more than a decade. did he give any inklings about the relationship that he had with his mother? i think it was evident to everybody that they were incredibly close. he s mentioned on a number of occasions that
anticipated wedding of prince william and catherine middleton. ironically, it was this abbey where his mother, princess diana, was laid to rest in 1997. and in the years between that memorial and this celebration, the legacy of diana and the tragedy of her life were critical in prince william s journey to the altar. i think she s probably never far from his mind. i think he thinks about her every day. jules knight says he s been friends with prince william for more than a decade. did he give any inklings about the relationship that he had with his mother? i think it was evident to everybody that they were incredibly close. he s mentioned on a number of occasions that she was never far from his mind. when you re going through these sorts of rites of passage where you re growing up and you don t have that incredibly important figure in your life, it must be incredibly difficult because you think oh, i wish my mum was here for that. rites of passage that were not easy gi
middleton, but that later. first, william would have to meet kate, and that would happen at st. andrews university. why would he go there? i mean, all the other royals had gone there. i think an attempt to get away from the public eye to some extend. i met him as soon as we arrived. incredibly quickly, this group of friends formed. reporter: among his small intimate group of friends, a young woman whose background was anything but royal. i actually went bright red when i met you and sort of scuttled off. ahead, when william met kate. the awkward meeting that almost never happened. [ male announcer ] in 2011, at&t is at work, building up our wireless network all across america. we re adding new cell sites. increasing network capacity, and investing billions of dollars to improve your wireless network experience.
he staged a mock engagement. a tongue and cheek kind of thing. he asked her to marry him at the foot of mt. kenya. reporter: a place that will ironically play a key role in his engagement to kate middleton, but that later. first, william would have to meet kate, and that would happen at st. andrews university. why would he go there? i mean, all the other royals had gone there. i think an attempt to get away from the public eye to some extend. i met him as soon as we arrived. incredibly quickly, this group of friends formed. reporter: among his small intimate group of friends, a young woman whose background was anything but royal. i turned bright red when i met you and sort of scuttled off. ahead, when william met kate. the awkward meeting that almost never happened.